A member of the Japanese royal family has said the country should consider other options before allowing a woman to succeed to the throne.
Prince Tomohito, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, said Japan should expand its royal circle and reintroduce concubines to increase the chances of a male heir.
His remarks come as a panel of experts considers the possibility of allowing women to take the throne.
This is because the two sons of the current emperor have no male children.
Some conservatives have opposed changing the succession laws, but the idea has wide support among the country's public.
Prince Tomohito's arguments were published in a private newsletter. "The reason why the imperial family line is so precious... is due to the very fact that it's been, without exception, a male line," he wrote.

The question is whether it is a right thing to change the unique tradition and history so easily."

He said one option would be to reinstate former members of the old aristocracy who left the Imperial Family after Japan's defeat in World War II.
"Using concubines, like we used to, is also an option," he said. "I'm all for it, but this might be a little difficult considering the social climate in and outside the country."
A 10-member government panel has been debating the issue of female succession since January, and said last week that it would recommend that the rules be changed.
Japan's 71-year-old ruling emperor, Akihito, has two sons and a daughter, but none of them have so far produced a male heir to ensure the succession.
The Imperial Household's main succession hopes lie with Akihito's eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Masako.
But analysts believe the pressure on Masako to bear a male heir contributed to stress-related illnesses which stopped her fulfilling official duties for more than a year.
If the rules were changed, her three-year-old daughter, Princess Aiko, could succeed instead. Japan has had female monarchs before - between the 6th and 18th centuries - but all have reigned in emergency circumstances and none had children who then ascended the throne.

Anyone but a woman: princeAdoption, concubines said preferable to an empress

Compiled from AP, Kyodo
Japan should exhaust all other options before allowing a woman to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne, including adoption and the use of concubines, a cousin of Emperor Akihito said in a newsletter obtained Thursday.
With the Chrysanthemum Throne facing a severe succession crisis -- the Imperial family has not produced a male heir in 40 years -- a government panel agreed last month to propose allowing women to reign. Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako have one child, 3-year-old Princess Aiko.
But Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, the Emperor's cousin, said that old traditions, such as allowing concubines, should be revived instead.
"We should try various other ways first," the prince, 56, wrote in an essay published in a newsletter circulated among staff of the Imperial Household Agency.
"The question is whether it is a right thing to change the unique tradition and history so easily."
The prince is the eldest cousin of the Emperor and is fifth in line to the throne.
While calls have been growing to revise the Imperial House Law to allow female monarchs, it is the first time an Imperial family member's views on the issue have been made known.
His comment appeared in the Sept. 30 newsletter, the latest edition of the quarterly, which is not sold, said Koji Okubo, an Imperial Household Agency staffer at the prince's residence.
In the essay, titled "Sea Lion's Chat," the prince suggested bringing back male royals who were forced from the old aristocracy after World War II, allowing the adoption of sons of former royals, or reviving a system in which the sons of concubines were allowed to ascend to the throne.
"Using concubines, like we used to, is also an option. I'm all for it, but this might be a little difficult considering the social climate in and outside the country," he wrote, noting that both the father and grandfather of his uncle, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, were sons of concubines.
The tradition ended during the reign of Emperor Showa -- known as Emperor Hirohito during his reign -- who refused to take a concubine.
Under the 1947 Imperial House Law, only males who are descended from emperors on their father's side can ascend to the throne. Under that law, neither Princess Aiko nor her future children can ascend to the throne.
The Imperial family is prohibited from interfering in politics under the Constitution, and they have no say over the panel's discussions.
Responding to the prince's column, one of the 10 members on the government panel said, "While it is private writing, I believe members of the Imperial family should be cautious in making political statements.
"We will just continue to proceed in our discussions toward the final report. The direction we plan to move toward will not change," said the member, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Japan Times: Nov. 4, 2005

Japan should exhaust all other options before allowing a woman to ascend its imperial throne, including adoptions and bringing back concubines, Emperor Akihito's cousin said in a newsletter obtained yesterday.
With the Chrysanthemum Throne facing a severe succession crisis Japan's imperial family has not produced a male heir in 40 years a government panel agreed last month to propose allowing women to reign. Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako have one child, a 3-year-old daughter named Aiko.
But Prince Tomohito, Akihito's cousin, said that old traditions, such as allowing concubines, should be revived instead.
"We should try various other ways first," before allowing female monarchs, Prince Tomohito wrote in an essay published in a newsletter circulated among staff of the Imperial Household Agency.
"The question is whether it is a right thing to change the unique tradition and history so easily."
Tomohito is the eldest cousin of Japanese Emperor Akihito and is fifth in line for succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
His comment appeared in the September 30 newsletter, the latest edition of the quarterly, which is not sold, said Koji Okubo, an Imperial Household Agency staff at the prince's residence.
In the essay, "Sea Lion's Chat," Tomohito suggested bringing back male royals who were forced from the old aristocracy after World War II, allowing adoption of sons of former royals, or reviving a system in which the sons of concubines were allowed to ascend the throne.
"Using concubines, like we used to, is also an option. I'm all for it, but this might be a little difficult considering social climate in and outside the country," Tomohito wrote, noting that both the father and grandfather of his uncle, former Emperor Hirohito, were sons of concubines.
Under the 1947 Imperial Household Law, only males who are descended from emperors on their father's side can succeed to the throne. Under that law, neither Princess Aiko nor her future children can ascend the throne.
The royal family is prohibited from interfering in politics under Japan's Constitution, and they have no say over the panel's discussions.
Okubo said he did not know whether Tomohito wrote the statement to represent members of the royal family or whether he planned to submit his proposals to the government panel.
In July, the panel compiled an interim report suggesting as options a legal change to allow a female monarch or to bring back members of the old aristocracy or their offspring who were forced from the imperial household in 1947 after Japan's defeat in World War II.
The idea of allowing a woman to take the throne has broad popular support in Japan. Source: China Daily

from several newspaper in chinese....they say that the cousin of the emperor say these kinda things because they want to "get themselve back into the throne" cuz Prince Mikasa is 4th in line for the throne....and 3 sons after him (Prince Mikasa Tomohito, Prince Katsura, Prince Takamado)

also....they were proposing to allow the crown prince to have a mistress/ concubine so that there is a male heir produced by this "woman"

That was an incredibly backward remark regarding concubines that the Prince made. Some people still think women should just be baby machines. That Prince is stuck in a time warp. He has a really disgusting, sexist attitude. 'I am all for it'. I just bet he is. Surreal.

What??..The Emperor's cousin is suggesting concubinage as the last solution for the male-heir crisis??!!..Whoaaaahhh..Japan is a modern country but some of the Japanese cant get rid of their century-old minds, worst, is the Imperial agency and a relative of the Emperor's..I think providing a concubine for the Crown Prince to be able to produce as son is a foolish move in this Era of 21st century..Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako are both Westernly educated people, they have class and morals, very-well respected locally and internationally..Why are they being harrassed by this kind of foolish set-up??..Why dont they give the Crown Prince's own family a break..They deserve to be happy and I think this happiness would be completely achieved if Princess Aiko would be given a chance to inherit the Japanese throne in the future..

That Prince is stuck in a time warp. He has a really disgusting, sexist attitude. 'I am all for it'. I just bet he is. Surreal.

That makes me sooo angry as well. I think the Crown princly couple, not to mention the emporer and empress should speak out against this 'cousin', even if they are normally dissuaded from doing such a thing. Like Mahoogie said, Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako are well educated and travelled modern people and they couldn't possibly take this seriously. :(

I also think that Japans foreign relations with most countries, not just in the west, would go downhill even they even considered this (not that there's a chance of that happening, surely!?)

That makes me sooo angry as well. I think the Crown princly couple, not to mention the emporer and empress should speak out against this 'cousin', even if they are normally dissuaded from doing such a thing. Like Mahoogie said, Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako are well educated and travelled modern people and they couldn't possibly take this seriously. :(

I also think that Japans foreign relations with most countries, not just in the west, would go downhill even they even considered this (not that there's a chance of that happening, surely!?)

When U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the post-World War II viceroy in Japan, drafted that country's constitution in 1947, he added a clause that recognized the rights of women. It was a radical concept in a society in which women were almost always subordinate. However, ascendancy to the Chrysanthemum Throne lay beyond the constitutional clause; the road to royal rule remained the male line........

I actually found a few errors from the report Princess Aiko is still 3 years old, well almost nearly turning to 4 on Dec. 1st. If she's in line to the throne after her father, she'll still be called Emperor and not Empress.

Japan panel wants princesses to stay royal-paper
Days after Japan's Princess Sayako married a commoner and gave up her privileges as a member of the imperial family, an advisory panel said it would recommend princesses stay royal in future, a newspaper reported on Sunday.....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051120/..._princess_dc_1